If You Cut Me
by Azamiko
Summary: Based off a line from a poem. Sasuke's reasoning...


This is…weird…inspired by a line from a Collins poem…I like the poem, and the line, but Sasuke probably wouldn't. I tried not to make it too OC, but I'm hoping that Sasuke would grow up a little bit…I'm supposed to be working on one of my papers or projects that's due next week….Oh yeah, obviously, neither the poem nor the characters are mine.

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If you cut me I would shine.—On Turning 10, Billy Collins

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Sasuke had returned from his journey. A journey of the soul, his fans called it, and maybe it was. He did seem a _bit_ different, though no one seemed to be able to say exactly what it was that had changed. Some said that his eyes weren't as cold; some—those who annoyed him—said that they were colder.

Naruto was back too but, well, not many people discussed the blond boy, whether he'd changed, stayed the same, was wounded, or dead. He'd returned over a year before, only to leave again right away. He'd been out of the village on missions more than he'd been in it (or so his few friends were heard to complain).

And so it was, once the politics of Sasuke's return were sorted out and Naruto stayed still long enough for his old friend to find him, the two boys—perhaps men, but that was yet to be seen—found themselves standing—a bit defiant, a bit nervous, but together—at the bridge where they'd spent so much of their short time as teammates waiting for their teacher.

"So, what do you want, Sasuke-teme?"

Looking at his old teammate, Sasuke could see the changes that the years had had. The funny thing was, Sasuke was probably the only person who had ever gotten close enough to the other boy to be capable of recognizing the hardness—which he knew was _his_—in the light-haired boy's eyes. Otherwise—other than that hardness, that _distance_, that had not been there before a certain waterfall, a certain fight—Naruto seemed to be the same loud and determined boy that he'd always been. To everyone else, he was the same obnoxious trouble-maker, but Sasuke, even without his _special_ eyes, could _see it_ and _feel it_. And he knew that it was all because of him.

However, his pride was all he'd ever had, his pride in his name, in his abilities, and after so many years, it was hard for him to set it aside and apologize. Even if it was his fault. Even if he _wanted_ to.

He stood there for a moment, silent and staring, wondering what exactly it was that he wanted. Revenge, of course, on his brother and everyone who'd helped the older Uchiha. Other than that…Honestly, the boy couldn't say what it was that he wanted, what he expected either from life or from this meeting.

"I…"

"If you don't spit it out, teme, I'm just gonna go home." The look, the coldness in his old friend's eyes bore into Sasuke. If only it weren't so difficult to just ask forgiveness, or at least understanding…

…then it wouldn't be worth it.

"I thought that…if I cut you, you'd shine." The stupefied expression on Naruto's face almost made his nonsensical words worth it. At least the hardness was gone.

"Say wha?"

"It's some stupid line I heard somewhere." Seeing that his explanation had provided no clarification, the dark-haired boy continued gruffly.

"I think that it means…I though that you'd never change, that you'd continue to smile that same dumb, _bright_ smile, no matter what. It means that I was a child who believed in…I don't know what. Immortality, I guess, invincibility."

"You believed that I couldn't be hurt." Naruto's blunt statement, combined with his strangely brilliant gaze, forced Sasuke's own glare into shamed submission.

"Something like that."

"I see. And what do you think now?

_Why isn't he screaming at me or something?_

"I think…I think that your blood is just as red as mine." Somehow, this admission was just as difficult as an apology. Perhaps, after all, that was what it was.

After a moment, Naruto stretched from his slouch, his contemplation abruptly finished. His eyes never left Sasuke's own as a familiar smile spread over his face.

"Let's go!"

Somehow, with that one bright smile, he'd managed to rid the area of the tense atmosphere that had overwhelmed them just a moment before. That fact was not lost on Sasuke as he moved, without thinking, to follow his friend.

"Where to?"

"The training grounds, of course." Naruto's grin grew wider. "Let's see just how well our blood matches!"

"Che, dobe…"

"Don't call me that, teme!"


End file.
